Publications

#localismNZ: Bringing power to the people explains the rationale behind localism and responds to commonly heard objections. This essay explains how unusual New Zealand's centralism is when compared internationally. New Zealand's councils have limited fiscal autonomy. Their mandate is also much more restricted that local government in other parts of the world.

Councils are already experiencing the impacts of climate change and are beginning to recognise that communities’ resilience to climate change depends in large part on what is being done to adapt to it.

However, until now councils have not had a good understanding of the type, amount and replacement value of local government owned infrastructure exposed to sea level rise, and therefore if and where adaptation planning should be prioritised.

Councils are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, which have bearing on the prosperity, vibrancy and long-term viability of our communities. Climate change will affect all of us during our lifetimes, and councils are increasingly recognising that resilience to climate change depends in large part on what is being done to adapt to it.

This report forms part of LGNZ’s wider flagship Climate Change project. The project is focused on supporting councils with their adaptation and mitigation responsibilities, and involves ongoing advocacy to the Government on the tools and resources that councils and their communities need to address climate change.

This report follows on from the discussion paper LGNZ released in July 2017 titled “Better economic development in local government”. It reports back on issues that were shared and discussed with LGNZ members and stakeholders during a workshop series led by LGNZ in early 2018. The findings show the potential for future improvement in this area of investment. A new system framework is also presented as a pathway for councils delivering economic development services.

This position paper encapsulates the sector's deep experience and evidence base to set out the key principles that local government, as owners and providers of the three waters infrastructure and services, see as critical and necessary in reforming the three waters regulatory framework.

Local government is calling for a shift in the way public decisions are made in New Zealand by seeking a commitment to localism. Instead of relying on central government to decide what is good for our communities it is time to empower councils and communities themselves to make such decisions. Strengthening self-government at the local level means putting people back in charge of politics and reinvigorating our democracy. We are calling for an active programme of devolution and decentralisation.

LGNZ is re-designing government from a localist perspective. Excessive centralisation leads to a ‘one size fits all’ approach, and can lead to bottlenecks in policy-making & implementation when empowered local government could just get on and get things done. New Zealand needs local innovation and local solutions to the problems and challenges of economic growth, housing, roading and all those other issues that affect people’s lives.

The purpose of the draft sector position is to signal the ambition that local government has for, and the commitments it makes to contributing to, the overall effort to reduce emissions in New Zealand. It also sets out the further support that local authorities need in order to enhance their contributions to emissions reductions.

We are pleased to launch a stocktake of actions and strategies that councils across the country have adopted to contribute to emissions reductions. The stocktake includes actions that councils are taking to reduce their organisation’s emissions, as well as actions and strategies designed to support or coordinate community emissions reduction efforts.

LGNZ is building on our earlier 3 Waters work through Water 2050, a project that proposes and substantiates the premise for a new, integrated water policy framework. The framework has five components: allocation, water quality, infrastructure, cost and funding, and governance. This report outlines a range of funding options that will be used to feed into the funding policy development programme.